


Soul Mates

by Lucero_17



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-24 20:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1616738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucero_17/pseuds/Lucero_17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"We live in a world where tiny black numbers and letters on our left wrist dictate who we’ll spend the rest of our lives with. From the day we’re born, these numbers start counting down until they reach zero. Two people will meet and both of their timers will reach zero at the exact same moment. Something in their bodies and minds drives them to be at an exact location at an exact time. Those two people will, without a doubt in anybody’s mind, be soul mates. Once you’ve found your soul mate, the numbers on your wrist disappear. It almost always works out that way."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soul Mates

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfiction of any kind. Constructive criticism and feedback is appreciated. Hope it isn't too bad.

I watch Ali’s face carefully as we wait at the bus stop. She said that something just propelled her to take the bus today.

  
“Four minutes left,” Ali mumbles under her breath.

  
She glances down at the inside of her left wrist where little black letters and numbers count down.

  
**0000d 00h 03m 59s**

  
**0000d 00h 03m 58s**

  
**0000d 00h 03m 57s**

  
Her face is a mix of excitement and anxiousness as her leg doesn’t seem to be able to stop bouncing up and down. She suddenly looks up at me and apologizes, “Sorry, I’m just…it’s a big day, big moment.”

  
I simply flash a smile and nod my head in understanding. She is about to meet her soul mate, after all.

  
We live in a world where tiny black numbers and letters on our left wrist dictate who we’ll spend the rest of our lives with. From the day we’re born, these numbers start counting down until they reach zero. Two people will meet and both of their timers will reach zero at the exact same moment. Something in their bodies and minds drives them to be at an exact location at an exact time. Those two people will, without a doubt in anybody’s mind, be soul mates. Once you’ve found your soul mate, the numbers on your wrist disappear. It almost always works out that way.

  
I look at my watch to check the time just as the bus pulls up to the curb. Ali bolts up from the bench and hops onto the bus. I follow her in and take the seat next to her. I take her hand as she takes a deep breath and smiles at me. Damn, that smile.

  
“It’s about time,” I tell her returning the smile, “I’m going to sit in the back. You do your thing and call me to tell me about it later, okay?”

  
Ali pulls me into a tight hug and I can’t help but think how perfectly she fits in my arms. She nods and squeezes my hand, “Thanks for coming with me, Ash. Love you.”  
I stand up and make my way to the back. I call over my shoulder, “Love you, too.”

  
I check my watch again and look around the bus. I don’t want her ending up with some old man or something. 30 seconds until Ali meets her match. Out of the corner of my eye, I see somebody running towards the bus. A woman, a little older than Ali, boards the bus.

  
She walks down the bus’ aisle and stops in front of Ali. They both smile at each other and the woman takes the seat next to Ali.

  
The woman lets out a sigh of relief, “I was worried the bus would leave. There’s no way I’d miss meeting my soul mate”.

  
I slouch down into my seat as tears start coming down my face. Trying to get a hold of myself, I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I scratch the numbers underneath my wristwatch as if scratching them hard enough will erase them. Looking down, the numbers don’t change. Even under the ink of my tattoos and the blur of my hot tears I can still see them. They’ve always been the same.

  
**0000d 00h 00m 00s**

  
- **Six Months Later-**

  
Ali is surrounded by her friends and family while I sit a little ways away from them. Mrs. Krieger puts a cake down in front of Ali as a woman drapes her arms around Ali’s shoulders. Despite understanding the system that we live in, I can’t help but feel jealous of Ali’s soul mate. Casey was older than Ali by five years. She was barely taller than Ali. Casey had short, blonde, pixie-cut hair, green eyes, a thin frame, and other than that, she wasn't that special. In a world without soul mate countdowns, she had nothing on me.

  
As Ali blew out the candles on her birthday cake, I made my way to the front of the house. I took a few sips from my beer as I leaned my forearms on the porch railing. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  
Kyle let out a light chuckle before flashing his Krieger smile, “You okay?”

  
I nod, but I don’t say a word.

  
“I know what’s going on in that head of yours, you know that. Right, Ashlyn?” He continues to prod. I only shrug. Kyle leans back against the porch and crosses his arms. He turns to look at me, “The countdown system can be worked around. Maybe this soul mate thing won’t work between Alex and Casey. Alex’s countdown will be at zero. Your countdown will be at zero. Viola. Presto. Soul mates.”

  
I laugh and shake my head at his bizarre scenario as he waves his hands to emphasize his words. However, his words had some truth in them. Although soul mates not working out is unheard of. Just like me, Kyle had been born with zeroes on his countdown. Zeroes are outcasts, unwanted. Kids born with an empty countdown are usually given up. They’re against the system’s values. They aren’t even a part of the system. Kyle, however, was different. Kyle is the epitome of a flaw in the system. He was zeroed out yet he wasn’t put into foster care, and he found love. David, Kyle’s soul mate, was born with a zeroed out countdown as well. One day Kyle and David met at the gym and both of their countdowns disappeared. They were, by the system’s standards, soul mates. Two zeroes side by side make infinity, I guess. Ali says the same could happen to me. I just haven’t found another zero. We’re a rare species.

  
Mr. and Mrs. Krieger raised two amazing kids, Kyle and Ali. Even when Kyle had zeroes growing up, Ali still loved him. I guess that was why it was so easy for Ali to accept me.

I had just moved to town and was looking for a job. I wanted a new start away from where I grew up. There were too many haunting memories of being a social outcast. I walked into an advertising firm and showed the young man at the front desk my portfolio and application. He glanced at my wrist and then threw my papers to the floor.

  
“Sorry, we don’t hire, much less associate, with zeroes,” he said.

  
I sighed and started to pick up the scattered papers from the floor. I had the expectation that this would happen. However, unexpectedly, somebody crouched down a grabbed a stack of my sketches.

  
“These are impressive,” she smiled, “Why don’t you come up and talk with me?”

  
I looked at her with a confused expression as I continued to gather my papers. I couldn’t help but stare in awe of not only of what she said but just her in general. Her eyes were such a unique brown and the light played off of them so interestingly. I wanted to run my fingers through her hair and capture the brightness of her smile.

  
“I mean it,” she emphasizes her words, “Talent like this could really help out my company”.

  
“Are you seriously thinking about hiring her, Ms. Krieger? She’s a zero, can’t you see?” the young man at the front desk tried to reason.

  
Ali waved him off and we went up to her office. We didn’t even talk much up there; she basically hired me on the spot. Months later we were at each other’s apartments on the daily. Years later we were inseparable. Now, Casey stands between us, and I really can’t do much about that. All I can do is stand in the background while Casey slings her arm around Ali.

  
“Kyle to Ashlyn, do you read me? Over,” Kyle chuckles as he waves his hand in front of me. I shake my head slightly. He looks me in the eyes and pulls me into his arms, “It’s gonna be okay, Ash.”

  
Ali walks out the front door with a slice of cake in her hand, “You guys want cake?”

  
Kyle tries to snatch the slice out of his sister’s hand. She pulls her hand back, “Mine,” she says ever so adorably. Kyle puts a hand on my shoulder, “I’m going to go find my man and see if he saved me a slice.” He walks back inside closing the door behind him.

  
Ali comes over and stands next to me, “It’s actually yours if you want it, Ash.”

  
I smile as I pinch a bit of the cake between my fingers and pop it into my mouth.

  
“You’re such a child. You know they’ve invented this really cool think called a fork. You should try it out sometime,” Ali laughed. I laugh along with her and admire how beautiful she is when she’s happy. I wonder if Casey makes her feel this way all the time. We stop and just stare at each other.

  
“Can I tell you something?” Ali suddenly takes hold of my arm. I look at her hand on my arm and then back at her.

  
“Of course, I know we don’t see each other as often as we used to, but you know you can always come to me for anything.”

  
Ali nodded and cleared her voice before looking back up at me, “I’m…I’m scared, Ashlyn.”

  
I take the plate of cake out of her hands and set it on the porch. I take both her hands and squeeze them encouragingly. I look down to our linked hands a note her bare wrist compared to mine: zeroes again; always zeroes.

  
“I’m scared that Casey and I aren’t going to work out. We’ve been sort of distant lately, and I don’t know what to do. I just don’t think she’s into me; she just acts like it around other people. What if I only feel like I love her because that’s what the system wants me to believe? To be honest, I think she’s cheating on me or at least doing something behind my back. What do I do?” Ali rambled.

  
I pull her into a tight hug and whisper, “Alex, listen to me. You’re in control of your own body, your own mind, and your own actions. Just because the system says something doesn’t mean the system is right. I can’t and won’t tell you what to do. But if you think she’s cheating on you, she doesn’t deserve you, okay? You’re her soul mate; she should be loyal to you. And she’s so damn lucky to have such a beautiful, talented woman.”

  
I feel her arms pull me in tighter as she breathed out, “I love you, Ash.”

  
I’m for certain that my love for her and her love for me are two types of love. But even so, I replied, “I love you too, Alex.”

  
She took a step back and held my face between her hands, “If it weren’t for this stupid system, I sometimes think that I might have ended up with spending the rest of my life with you.”

  
I close my eyes and let out a small laugh as I lean my forehead against hers, “Fuck the system.”

  
Suddenly I feel her lips on mine. I close my eyes and pull her hips to mine. I feel her arms wrap tightly around my neck. After we pull apart, slightly out of breath, I whisper, “What was that?”

  
“Fuck the system,” Ali replies before heading back inside.

  
**-Two Months Later-**

  
After the kiss we shared, Ali and I rarely talked; even more rarely than before the kiss. We only talked at work and that was it. I think it was out of fear that Casey would’ve found out or something. I tried to put the whole thing out of my mind, but I couldn’t help replay the moment over and over in my mind. Her lips were so soft against mine. The way she pulled me in closer just ever so slightly aggressively. God, I loved it.

  
As I got ready for bed, my ringtone sounded and Ali’s name lit up across the screen. I looked at my watch to check the time, 1:32AM. My watchband slid down and I noticed my zeroes looked weird. Putting the thought aside, I picked up Ali’s call.

  
“Ali, it’s kind of late. What’s up?”

  
“Ash, can you come pick me up?” She had been crying. I could tell.

  
“Alex, what happened?”

  
“Casey left one of her work files at my place, and I knew she needed them for her meeting tomorrow. So I drove to her place to drop them off. I opened her apartment and saw her on the bed with another girl.” She sniffled into the phone, “I’m outside her apartment. Can you please just come pick me up, Ashlyn? I can’t believe this fucking system. I can’t believe this happened.”

  
Hearing all of this, I quickly put on my shoes and grabbed my keys, “Al, I’ll be there in twenty.”

  
As I slid my phone into my pocket, I inspected my wrist.

  
“What the hell?” I asked myself.

  
**0000d 00h 23m 58s**

  
I shook my head. I just need more sleep. I’m hallucinating. Zeroes can’t turn into other numbers, I reasoned with myself. They’re always been zeroes. I slid my watchband to cover the countdown again as I walked out to my jeep.

  
I pulled up to the apartment complex and put my car into park. In the moonlight, I slide my watch down and check my wrist again.

  
**0000d 00h 01m 11s**

  
“What the fuck is this sorcery?” I ask aloud. I jump out of my car and look around to find Ali. Without even knowing where I’m going, I feel myself propelled towards one direction. Now I can see her.

  
“Alex!” I call out and start jogging towards her. She picks up her head and starts walking towards me. I wrap my arms tightly around her as she starts rambling into my shoulder.

  
“Ashlyn, I’m so sorry that I kissed you at my birthday party and then left you hanging. I’m sorry that we’ve barely talked in the last couple months. It’s just that I needed you, so badly. I was so scared and upset and, I didn’t know what to do.”

  
I pulled away for a second, “She didn’t hit you or something, did she?”

  
Ali shook her head. I sighed in relief, “Why were you scared then?”

  
Ali looked down at her wrist and then looked back at me in confusion, “My countdown came back and had like twenty-something minutes on it when I called you. But it disappeared again.”

  
It struck me right then and there. I took off my watch and looked at my own wrist. I swiped my finger across my wrist and looked down at Ali. I put out my wrist to show her.  
No more countdowns. No more zeroes. My wrist was blank. All that showed was the ink of my tattoos.

  
“Does this mean -” Ali started, but I cut her off with my lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in closer to her. I swiped my tongue against her bottom lip as I held her face. When we pulled apart I kissed her forehead and then leaned my head against hers. She giggled and pecked my lips once, then twice.

  
“Yeah. We’re soul mates.”


End file.
